Food & Drink / Compounds / Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334)

Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) in food: ingestion safety

Low risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) poses low risk to adults under normal use conditions.

What is tartaric acid (l-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / e334)?

The IUPAC name is 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid.

Also known as: 2,3-Dihydroxybutanedioic acid, 526-83-0, DTXCID3026986, CHEBI:15674.

IUPAC name
2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid
CAS number
87-69-2
Molecular formula
C4H6O6
Molecular weight
150.09 g/mol
SMILES
C(C(C(=O)O)O)(C(=O)O)O
PubChem CID
875

Risk for people

Low risk

Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) poses low risk to adults under normal use conditions.

Regulatory consensus

3 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334). The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
FDA—GRAS food additive (E334); no ADI limitation
EU—E334 — quantum satis (no upper limit for most foods)
JECFA—ADI not limited

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter tartaric acid (l-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / e334)

  • Food And Beverage — wine (natural component), baking powder (cream of tartar), candy, fruit juice
  • Baking — cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate), meringue stabilizer, snickerdoodle cookies
  • Pharmaceutical — effervescent tablets, chiral resolving agent
  • Industrial — electroplating baths, textile dyeing mordant

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334):

  • Citric acid
    Trade-offs: Removes 95-99% of dissolved contaminants including metals, PFAS, nitrates; wastes 2-4 gallons per gallon produced (improving with newer systems); removes beneficial minerals; $0.05-0.25/gallon; requires pre-treatment for longevity.
  • Malic acid
    Trade-offs: Direct chemical substitution requires verification that the replacement does not introduce new hazards (regrettable substitution). Conduct full hazard assessment of proposed alternative before adoption.

Frequently asked questions

What products contain tartaric acid (l-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / e334)?

Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) appears in: wine (natural component) (food and beverage); baking powder (cream of tartar) (food and beverage); cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) (baking); meringue stabilizer (baking); effervescent tablets (pharmaceutical).

Why do regulators disagree about tartaric acid (l-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / e334)?

Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) has been classified by 3 agencies including FDA, EU, JECFA, with differing conclusions. Regulators apply different standards of evidence (animal data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds), which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Tartaric acid (L-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / E334) in the food app

Look up products containing tartaric acid (l-tartaric acid / cream of tartar precursor / e334), compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. — expert_curation

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →